Feed and delivery mechanism



Nov. 10, 1931. I. PHILLIPS FEED AND DELIVERY MECHANISM Filed June 29, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet J'wenZ-on 6 Nov. 10, 1931. 1. PHILLIPS 1,831,637

FEED AND DELIVERY MECHANISM Filed Jun 29. 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 10,1931. X I, PHILLIPS 1,831,637

7 FEED AND DELIVERY MECHANISM Filed June 29, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Nov. 10, 1931. PHILLIPS FEED AND DELIVERY MECHANISM Filed June 29, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Nov. 10, 1931. l. PHILLIPS 1,831,637

FEED AND DELIVERY MECHANISM Filied June 29, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Nov. 10, 1931 UNITED s A mvme PHILLIPS, or PHILADELPHIA, rnnnsvnvanra FEED AND DELIVERY MECHANISM Application filed June 29,

My invention provides feed and delivery mechanisms with means whereby one of such mechanisms controls the other to render the controlled mechanism ineffective should the controlling mechanism fail to perform its normal function. Such means may, however, be rendered inoperative when the failure of the controlling mechanism to perform its normal function results from a prior default '10 of the controlled mechanism.

My invention is particularly applicable to a printing press of the bed and platen type equipped with a so-called Miller feeder having a feed rack for inserting a sheet between i the bed and platen for printing, and delivery lingers for seizing and removing the printed sheet. In such mechanisms, the failure of the delivery fingers to remove a printed sheet results in the crumpling of such sheet by the feed rack upon its next forward movement,

with resultant jamming of the press, damage to the types and destruction of material. Even if an operative be in attendance and observe the failure of the delivery fingers, the

I momentum of the fly wheel and heavy moving parts of the machine is such as to render impracticable the stoppage of the machine before serious damage is done.

Bymy improvements means are provided whereby the failure of the delivery fingers to remove a printed sheet from between the platen and bed automatically cuts off the suction to the feed mechanism so that no sheet is delivered to the feed rack, renders the feed rack actuating mechanism inoperative, and trips the printing mechanism so that the platen and bed are not brought together. If, however, no sheet has been delivered by the feed rack to the platen, so that there is no sheet there for removal by the delivery fingers, the means which otherwise cuts off the suction, stops the feed rack and trips the press are rendered ineffective.

The characteristic features and advantages of my improvements will more fully appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof. In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of apparatus embodying my invention showing 1925. Serial no. 40,387.

the feed rack advanced and the delivery fingers retracted; Fig. 1 is an enlargedfragmentary view of a portion of the slide and arm 21 showing the trigger block and guard as viewed from the right of Fig. 1 Fig.1

is a fragmentary view illustrating the slide and pivoted trigger block; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 showing the delivery. fingers advanced and the feed-rack retracted; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of the delivery fingers and probe in closed position; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of the same parts with the delivery fingers and probe elevated Fig. 2 shows the same parts with the delivery lingers gripping a sheet and the probe supported thereby Fig. 3 isa plan view of the apparatus with the delivery table broken away, taken in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4; is a longitudinal sectional View taken on the line 4.4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view'taken-on the line 55 of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 66 of Fig. 3; Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 3; Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view on the line 8-8 of Fig. 3; Fig. 9 is an enlarged diagrammatic view of the control shaft. and its associated parts; Fig. 10 is a face view of the feed rack actuating cam;

F 11 is a top plan view of the delivery fingers and their operating shafts on an enlarged scale, and in a slightly advanced position; and Fig. 12 is a slightly distorted perspective view showing the arm for oscillating the delivery fingers and its connections in assem bled relation. i

As illustrated in the drawings, (Figs. 1,

2, 3 and 4) my'improvements are applied toa printing press comprising a relatively oscil latory platen 1 and bed 1" having connected therewith a frame 2 which supports a stock table 3 and a delivery table 4-. The sheets to. be fed to the platen are picked up from the table 3 by the separator feet 5 of the bar 5 and positioned thereby inthe path of the grippers 6 of the feed rack 7. I

The side farms'of the feed'rack 7 have toothed surfaces 8 engaged by gear wheels 9 fixed on'a shaftlO journalled in and eX- tending across the frame, but omitted from most of the figures of the drawlngs to avoid confusion this portion of the mechanism be- .ing well known to those skilled in the art. 2

One of the gear wheels has fixed thereto a pinion 11 meshing with the teeth of a quadrant 12 pivoted onthe bearing 13 of the frame in thenusual manner.

The quadrant is oscillated on its pivot, to reciprocate the feed rack 7, by the engagement of its rolleriliwith' the cam s-lot115 in the disk 16 fixed on the driving shaft 17. An

auxiliary slot 15 in the disk 16-per1nits-thc" roller ll to ride idly when the feed quadrant 12 is held up out of engagement withthe pinion 11 as.hereinafterdescribed; a spring l2tending to draw the quad-rant12 downward.

The: oppositeend of the shaftl'? has fixed [thereto .a dislrl8- from which projectsa crank 13111194 (Fig's..1,.2 :and12) .which. is engaged .in the curved slot 20- of. the delivery arm 21 having .a shaft .22 .journalled in-v the bearing 23. of. the. frame. A shaft2et, extending. over the table,'has fixed tothe respective'ends thereof brackets .and26, theformerhaving its hub..26 journalleld: in .a. bearing 21a-.pro- .jectinglaterally. from the top of the lever21, whereby. the shaft-r24 isrotatably supported.

Thebracket 25 has. a link 27 pivotally connected withan armv 25a. thereof, the link. having.thereon..a,.roller .27.operating in a ca m slot 28, ,1 in a movablebracket 28.for suitably positioning. the. shaft to cause the delivery fingersto grasp-a printed sheet. on the platen. The bracket 28' issupported by a bracket 28a :journalled on the pro ecting end of the shaft :22. and pivotally connected with the bracket 28. The. member 28a may. be slightly rocked :by a part of the. press .Orfeeder in theusual manner.

The shaft-.24 has fixedthereto several .pairs of deliveryfi-ngers .29 andeachpair of delivery fingers has pivotedbetween them on a vpintle 40 .a complementarydelivery finger 30. .The pivoted. fingers 30 may berocked upward from theffingers29by springsv 31but are normally tilted to form closed jaws by the engagement with the rearsthereofof cams 32 carried .on. a. shaft 33 ournalled. in arms 25b..and'.26.b of thebrackets 25. and 26. I :The

shaft 33 has fixed on the end thereof an arm 34 connectedby. a-.link. 35 withthe lever 36 having ;the ..arms 37 and [.38 adapted to be rocked: against the tensionof. .a spring .33. by

engagement with set. screws 39 and .39to .permit .the. delivery jaws or vfingers .to'be ain. arms 25aanids26c. of'the brackets 25 and 26 fixed to the shaft 24. (Figs. 2 and 12). The-shaftT-also has fixed thereto a flange 48 transverse to the trip or flange 46 and adapted to be engaged bythe tail of the feeler 40 when thelatter is depressed The. movement of theshafta'i iszliniitedlby the engagement .of the flange 48 with the part45, which,. however; passes freelv under: the-flange .48 when .its forward end isheldelevated by the. en--- gagement. of the, probe 41 with a sheet. of paper: between the. fingers 29 and-30.

The shaft. 17. has on the. end thereof the crank: .arnretf Fl 's. 2 and12 with which 1s connected a coiled spring 49 .anchorechto the lever arin21. A slotted slide 50 is pivot- I ally con-nectedwith the crank-arm 47. and is. reciprooable :on the arm.21,:towhichit-1s connected by the stud..21.- .A roller 51 on the bottom ofthe slide.50 rides over the. member :28 and is-engaged by the detachable cams or nose pieces 52, 52. the latter of which is preferably made adjustable. The engagement of the-roller. 51-witlr the nose pieces 52, 52, elevatestheslide-50 against the action of.the spring 49- androcks the shaft l'fandflange l6,-.thereby tilting. the feeler I40 and-With- "drawinm the-probe ihfrom the slot l2. When the roller ,51 is moved-01f .of the .nose pieces 5.2, 52., therspring 49 rocks the arm i'ifiand shaft. 17 .to depress the. :slide 50 unless prevented by the elevation ofxthertail =45 into the plane of theflangeAtS whenthereis no sheet. between the.-jaws.29, 30 to snpport'the probe 41. From-'theforegoing itwvillebe understood that when the roller 51 is. at the base 1 ofthe cam 52 the. fingers 29-and: .30. are closedan-d. the probe depressed. .As the roller rides to'the' topof the cam:52t the fingers are opened and. the; probe is elevatedby the-engagementof theflange 46-with the tail 45.

The sheet entering between-the fingers-is gripped thereby upon the closure of the: fingers as the-rollerx51 recedes to the base of the cam 52 and the probe is'supported by the sheet-so that the" tail-45 clears the flange 48, which has been turned to engaging position. But should no sheethave been seized. by the fingers, the probe is depressed and the tail 45. engages the flange 48.

p A trigger block 52a is hinged by a pintlc 50 to a bracket 50 on the slide 50 and is normally pressed toward theguarid 53 by a spring-.53. The :blocklis. so mounted. asto yield to pressure in. one direction only and is protected by the guard and guide 53'.

The movement of the slide moves the trigger or block 52a out of and into position for engaging. and rocking a crank arm 54 on the end of a shaft 55 journalled in the frame and positioned by a spring 56. A crank arm 57 on the inner end of theshaft 55 has pivotally connected therewith a reciprocable slide 58 provided with a tooth 59, which is drawn forward by the rocking of the shaft 55 to,

rock the pivoted detent 60 (see Figs. 7 and 9) against the action of the spring 61 when the slide 58 is elevated'as hereinafter described. The detent 60 contains an aperture or recess for the engagement of a pin or shoulder 62a on the main control shaft 62.

The shaft 62 is journalled in the frame and is constantly urged in a clockwise direction by the coiled spring 63. The control shaft 62 has fixed thereon a stop arm 62?), a yoke 620, a cam 62d, and may be manually rotated counter to the action of the spring 63 by the link mechanism 626 operable by a push rod 64.

\Vhen the shaft 62 is manually turned by the push rod 64 anti-clockwise, the spring 63 is wound up and held under tension by the, engagement of the pin 62a in the aperture in the detent-6O which is pressed by the spring 61 into position for holding the pin 62a. In this position of the shaft 62, its members 62?), 62c and 62d are inoperative.

\Vhen, however, the arm 54 is rocked by the engagement of the trigger 52a, it acts through the parts 55, 57, 58 and 59 to draw the detent 60 away from the pin 62a and release the shaft 62, which is immediately rotated by the spring 63.

The rotation of the shaft 62 by the spring 63 moves the arm 62?) under the catch 65 of the quadrant 12 and thereby checks the move ment of the feed rack 7; causes the yoke 620 to operate the stem 66 of the valve 67 which stops the exhaustion of air through the tubes 68 so that there is no longer suction on the feet 5 of the bar 5; and causes the cam 62d to operate the mechanism 69 connected with usual trip mechanism for tripping the bed and platen of the press The detent 60 is tripped by the tooth 59 only when the slide 58 is elevated by the arm 70 loosely pivoted on the shaft 71 journalled in the frame.

The shaft '71 has fixed thereto arms 72 normally elevated by a spring 73 bu"; intermittently depressed by the engagement of a cam 74 on the main driving shaft 17 with a roller 75 on one of the arms 72. The forward slotted ends of the arms 72 engage and operate the slides 76 reciprocable in the guides 77 and supporting the bar 5.

A slotted lever 78 is pivotally mounted on the pin 79 fixed to the frame and is rocked by a pin 80 fixed to a lever arm 72 to elevate vated and applies pressure or depress a link rod 81 passing through an apertured offset 82 on the bent arm 70 loosely journalledon the shaft 71. The movements of the rod 81 are trans mitted to the arm 70 through coiled springs 84, 84

engaging opposite surfaces of the offset 82 and held under elastically depress the arm 70, so that the tooth 59 drops below the plane of the detent 60.

A roller .85 is carried by the arm 70 and when the latter is depressed rides upon the periphery of the collar 86 fixed on the shaft 17, or enters the notch 86" thereof-if the lever 70 spring 84 until the notch 86' is turned by the shaft 17 into registration with the roller. lVhen the roller enters the notch itcrides around the interior channel 87 of the collar until again brought into registration with the notch at a time when the lever 78 is elethrough the spring; 84 to the arm 70 to eject the roller from the channel 87.

The shaft 17 has thereon a cam 17- for operating the valve stem 66in synchronism with the operation of the arms 72 by the cam 74, so that when the bar 5 is depressed the openings in the separator feet 5.are con nected through the ducts 68 with aduct 68a leading to a vacuum pump, not shown, The closing of the orifices of the middle separat'or foot by a sheet of paper permits the exhaustion of a chamber 90 through the duct 68b connecting such chamber and separator foot. The exhaustion of the chamber 90 elevates a weight 91 therein from. the tail of is held depressed by the action of the a pivoted pawl 92 having a weighted head adapted to be tilted by the weight 91 into engagement with a notched rod 93 fixed on the bar 5 to' prevent upward movement thereof.

- Should the separator feet fail to pick up a sheet of paper from the table 3, the orifices in the middle separator foot 5 are not closed and the chamber 90 is not exhausted. Consequently the weight 91 tilts the head of the pawl 92 into engagement with the rod 93 and the bar 5 is held down after the cam 74 has passed the roller 75.

In the beginning of a normal cycle of operation of the machine,

the bar '5 is in an ele vated position above a stack of sheets 011 the stack table 3, the feed rack 7 is retracted, and the delivery fingers 29and30 have grasped and started to remove a sheet from the platen of the press. The push rod 64' is pushed in and the shaft 62 is turned so that the parts spring63 is under tension, the shaft being held 111 such position by the engagement of the detent 60 with the pin or shoulder 62a on the shaft 62.

The rotation of the main shaft 17 acts through the mechanism described to lower the bar 5 into engagement with the sheet stack andopen-the valveGG for exhausting the feet 5. If a sheet" is picked up, the weight 91is'elevatedby suction and the head of thedog 92 drops out of position for engaging the groove in the rod 98, so that the bar 5* may be elevated by the action of the spring 73 on the arm 72. The sheet lifted by the bar 5 is seized by the jaws 6 and delivered by the feed rack to the platen. If, however, the separator feet 5' should fail to pickup a sheet, the ports in the middle separator footare left open and atmospheric air is admitted to the chamber 90 which causes the weight 91 to drop upon the tail of the dog 92 andtilts its nose into position for engaging in the notch in the bar 93 thereby holdin the bar 5 in its depressed position until :a further cycle of the machine when the separator feetpick up a sheet of material with resultingexhaustion of the air from the chamber. 90 and the release of the detent 92 fromthe bar 93; So long as the bar 5 is held depressed by the detent92 the roller 85 rides around in the'channel 87, and the lever 70 is helddown' so that it cannot raise the tooth 59'. on the lever 58 into theplane of the keeper 60, hence oscillation of the arm does not stop the machine so long as the bar 5 is held down by the pawl 92.

When, in a further cycleof the machine, asheet of paper is picked up by the separator feet 5, andzsuction is created in the chamber 90 to lift the weight 91 from the tail of the pawl, so that the head of t e latter drops out of the path of the rod 93, the arm 72acts through the leverWS, rod 81, collar 83 and spring S l'topress the roller 85' against the outer wall ofthc channel 8'?, so that when the slot 864registers w th the roller 85, after a half-revolution of the shaft-1?, the roller is ejected from the channel 87 and the lever 70 iselevated by the springSe to lift the tooth'59 on the link 58 into aplane for engagement with the detent 60. i

The sheet delivered to the platen is printed by the form on the bed of the press, and as the platen and bed reopen the arm 21 moves forward (toward the left in Figs. 1 and The engagement of the roller 51 with the cam 52 elevates the slide 50 to operate the crank arm in" and turn the shaft 4;? so as to tilt the forward flange thereon into engagement with the tail of'the lever to and retract the feeler 11 from the aperture in thejaw 30. When the arm 38 contacts with the stop 39, the pressure-of the cams. 32 on the ends of the ljaws30 isreleasedand these jaws are opened'bythe springsdl; Assoon asithe lever arm 21 starts backward-,thecams 32 are tilted through the action :of the spring 33' connected toarmion' the shaft 33 to close the jaws 30 on the sheet avhich has been printed and lift it fromthe-platen. When in the rearwardmovement of'the arm .21 (toward the right iniFigs. 1 andz2) the roller 51 has passed over the apeX of the forward cam 52, the roller 51, slide 5O, .an'd:connected'mechanism tend to drop down under the urge of the spring. 49 so that'the trigger 52a will pass below the plane of the arm 54:, provided that the fee-lerel is supported by a sheet of paper grasped between the jaws 29' and 80 so that the tail 4-5 clearsthe rearward flange 48 on the shaft As the roller 51 engages the rearward cam 52, the-slide -and its connected' mechanism is again operated to lift the feeler 4-1 clear of the-surface of the sheet between the jaws 29 and-30 and the engagement ofthe arm '37 with the stop 39 releases the cams 32 from the jaws 30 and permits the opening of the latter by the springs 31 so that the sheet drops upon the table 4.

So long as a sheet is properly fed and removed, for each impression, the operation of the machine continues as above described.

If, however, the gripper jaws 29 and 30 fail to pick up a printed sheet from the platem the feeler 41 drops into the slot 42 in the aw 30 as the arm 21 is retracted and the tail 45 of the feeler lever' lO is'elevated by the spring as into the path of the rear flange 48 on the shaft 17; This prevents the turning of the shaft 4'? and the descent of the slide 50 and trigger 520 when the roller '51 passes 01f the high point of the forward cam 52'. Consequently the trigger 52a engages and rocks the arm. 54:. The arm 54 acts through the parts 55, 57 and 58 to advance the elevated dog 59 and disengage the detent 60 from the pin 62a on the shaft 62. The shaft 62 is thereupon rotated bythe spring 63 and turns the arm 62?) into the path .of the lug 65 on the segment 12, which is thereby'held elevated and rendered inoperative to advance the feed rack. The turning of the shaft 62 also opcrates the yoke 620 carried thereby to close the valve 66 connecting the suction tube 68a; with the 'chamber'67, thereby preventing the exhaustion of the feet 5 and the picking'up. of a further sheet from the feed table 8. The turning of the shaft 62 also operates the cam 6203 on the end thereof to throw the link 69 which actuates the usual trip mechanism of thepress and prevents contact of the bed and platen and the making of further impressions. j

lVhen the missed sheet has been removed from the platen manually by the attendant or by the jaws 29 and soon their next oscillation, the rod 64 is pushed into rotate the shaft 62"against actionof the spring 63. This removes the arm 626 from its position in the path of the segment catch 65, disengages the yoke 620 from suction valve 66, and turns the cam 62d to release the press trip mechanism, so that the press will again start feeding and printing.

If, however, the failure of the fingers 29 and 30 to remove a sheet from the platen results from a previous failure of the feet 5 to pick up a sheet from the table 3, the press and feed mechanism are not stopped by the rocking of the arm 54, because, as before described, the tooth 59 is not in a plane to engage the detent 60.

Having described my inventlon, I claim:

1. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with feed mechanism and delivery mechanism, of means for rendering said feed mechanism inoperative when said delivery mechanism is ineffective, and means for preventing the operation of said means last named when said feed mechanism fails to operate.

2. In apparatus of the character described,

the combination with feeding mechanism and delivery mechanism, of means operable by said delivery mechanism for controlling said feeding mechanism, and means operable by said feeding mechanism for controlling said means first named.

3. In apparatus of the char cter de scribed, the combination of a sheet separator, means for moving a sheet from said separator to a press, delivery mechanism for removing a sheet from said press, and means operable by said delivery mechanism for controlling said sheet separator and moving means.

4. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of feed mechanism, a segment. for operating said feed mechanism, means for oscillating said segment, and means for rendering said last named means inoperative.

5. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with sheet feeding means, of a segment for operating said sheet feeding means and comprising a cam having a peripheral runway and a by-pass runway connecting different sections of said peripheral runway.

6. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with feeding means, of a segment for operating said feeding means, means for oscillating said segment and comprising a cam having a peripheral runway and a by-pass runway connecting different portions of said peripheral runway, and means for rendering said segment inoperative.

7. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with aprinting press, of feed mechanism comprising a reciprocable device, means for operating said device, and means for rendering said feed mechanism inoperative during the continued operation of said machine.

8. I11 apparatus of the character described, the combination with a platen, of a sheetfeeding rack delivering to said platen, sheet separating mechanism for supplying sheets to said rack, sheet delivery mechanism for removin a sheet from said platen, and means operable by one of said mechanisms for checking the operation of said rack.

9. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of a feeder, an oscillatory member for reciprocating said feeder, means comprising a driving, shaft for operating said oscillatory member, and means for latching said oscillatory member.

10. In apparatus of the character 'described, the combination of a feed rack, a toothed segment for operating said rack, means comprising a cam for operating said segment and means for latching said segment out of the path of said cam.

11. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with feeding mechanism, of means normally tending to check the action of said feed mechanism, a device controlling said means last named, and means for operating said device.

12. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with feeding mechanism, means for operating said feeding mechanism, tensioned means for controlling said operating means, means for placing said tensioned means under tension, a device for holding said tensioned means under tension, and means for tripping said device.

13. In apparatus of the character de-' scribed, the combination of a trip sheetseparator, means for exhausting said separa-' tor, a valve for controlling said means, tensioned means tending to normally cut off suction from said separator, and means for controlling said tensioned means.

lt. In apparatus of the characterdescribed, the combination of a sheet-separator, a feeder, trip mechanism, and means for simultaneously rendering said sheet-separator and said feeder inoperative and foroperating said trip mechanism.

15. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of a shaft, means normally tending to move said shaft in one direction, means for manually moving said shaft in the opposite direction, means-for retaining said shaft in the position to which it is moved by said manual means, and a sheet-separator, a feeder, and a trip mechanism controlled. by said shaft.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set' my name this 16th day of June, 1925.

IRVING PHILLIPS. 

